Crews drive bridge foundation piles for the new I-75 interchange at NW 49th Street. AI-generated illustration of pile-driving work; not a photo of the site.
Business
2026-09-295 min read
Buc-ee's Ocala Update: I-75 Exit at NW 49th Street Takes Shape as Store Targets 2029
This is a business news article published on 2026-09-29 covering local Marion County, Florida news. Crews are driving bridge piles for the new I-75 interchange at NW 49th Street, but Buc-ee's now says its Ocala travel center will open in 2029. Here is the location, the site plan and the timeline.
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Only In Ocala Editorial TeamLocal Content Specialists · 8+ years in Marion County
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Buc-ee's is still coming to Ocala, but not as soon as first planned. Company officials told WCJB in May 2026 that the Marion County travel center is now expected to open in 2029, a year later than the 2028 target that had been lined up with the new Interstate 75 exit being built to serve it. That exit, a diverging diamond interchange at NW 49th Street, is now well into construction: on Friday, September 18, 2026, the Florida Department of Transportation released video of crews driving bridge foundation piles at the site.
Here is where things stand on both projects, what has been approved, and what is still unknown.
Where the Ocala Buc-ee's Is Going
The store is planned for part of the former Baldwin Angus Ranch north of Ocala, a 32.83-acre site on NW 35th Street Road about 1.75 miles south of W Highway 326, according to site plans reported by Ocala-News.com. It sits on the east side of I-75. FDOT's design for the new interchange shows NW 49th Street crossing the interstate on a new bridge, with a Marion County extension of NW 35th Street curving south from the east side of the interchange. That extension is how drivers will reach the Buc-ee's site.
The Marion County Board of County Commissioners approved the project 5-0 on February 22, 2023, rezoning the land from agricultural to a planned unit development (WUSF). Because the county handled the rezoning, the site falls under county rather than City of Ocala review.
What the Site Plans Show
The plans reported by Ocala-News.com in September 2025 describe a large-format Buc-ee's travel center:
Feature
Planned
Fueling positions
120, under three canopies
EV charging
28 spaces
Car parking
750 regular spaces plus 21 accessible spaces
RV / bus parking
11 spaces
Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF)
8 positions
Pylon sign
125 feet tall
Store size
Roughly 74,000 to 80,000 sq ft (reported figures have varied)
Early coverage described an 80,000-square-foot store that would have been among the largest Buc-ee's anywhere. In June 2024 the Ocala Gazette reported that the plans had been scaled back to about 74,000 square feet, so Ocala is no longer expected to hold the size record. Buc-ee's has not published a final figure.
The Ocala store would be the third Buc-ee's in Florida. The company's official locations page lists two today, both opened in 2021: Daytona Beach (#47, 2330 Gateway North Drive) and St. Augustine (#46, 200 World Commerce Parkway). Ocala is not yet listed there, even as "coming soon."
The I-75 at NW 49th Street Interchange
The Buc-ee's depends on a new exit that FDOT is building on I-75 at NW 49th Street, between the existing US 27 and CR 326 interchanges north of Ocala. According to FDOT's project page (Financial Project ID 435209-1, last updated September 22, 2026):
- Design: a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) with two lanes in each direction on NW 49th Street, plus shared-use paths, bike lanes and sidewalks. The bridge will carry an "Ocala" aesthetic feature with special lighting. - Cost and contractor: $59.4 million for construction, built by Lane Construction Corp. - Schedule: construction began in spring 2026, and FDOT estimates completion in fall 2028. - County share: Marion County is contributing $8,419,860 from its penny sales tax under an agreement commissioners approved on November 19, 2025 (352today). The county is also building the NW 49th Street and NW 35th Street connections on either side of the new interchange.
FDOT's design for the I-75 at NW 49th Street interchange. The Marion County NW 35th Street extension curves south from the east side of the interchange. Image: Florida Department of Transportation (FPID 435209-1).
The interchange is not only about Buc-ee's. FDOT's interchange justification says it mainly serves the more than 500-acre Ocala-Marion County Commerce Park, a distribution and industrial hub north of the city. The park is projected to add more than 25,000 daily trips, about 12 percent of them trucks. The exit is also part of the state's broader Moving Florida Forward I-75 program, which is adding auxiliary lanes through Marion County between SR 44 and SR 326. Governor Ron DeSantis broke ground on that program, and on the new interchange, on February 25, 2025.
FDOT District 5 posts lane closures and construction updates for the interchange on its project page.
Why the Opening Moved to 2029
When the county approved Buc-ee's in 2023, the store's opening was tied to completion of the interchange, and 2028 was the working target. In May 2026, company officials told WCJB the store is now expected to open in 2029. No reason for the delay was given. County records show preliminary site work moving forward: in September 2025, commissioners approved survey and geotechnical waivers for the project (WCJB). As of late September 2026, there is no public report of vertical construction on the store itself.
What We Still Don't Know
- An exact opening date. 2029 is the company's latest public target; nothing more specific has been announced. - Jobs and wages. Buc-ee's has not released a hiring number for Ocala. The widely quoted "1,500 jobs" figure refers to the overall infrastructure project, not store staffing. - Final store size. Published figures range from about 74,000 to 80,000 square feet.
